Electric connecting device



1968 TAKESHI KUWAHATA 3,408,614

ELECTRIC CONNECTING DEVICE Filed Jan. 5, 1966 INVENTOR.

TAKESHI KUWAHATA HIS I? TTORNEYS United States Patent 3,408,614 ELECTRICCONNECTING DEVICE Takeshi Kuwahata, Tokyo, Japan, assignor to HiroseElectric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, a corporation of apan Filed Ian. 3,1966, Ser. No. 518,141 1 Claim. (Cl. 33991) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aconnector providing for the secure fastening and easy disengagement ofinterconnecting elements, for example, male and female electricalcomponents, including a spring means rigidly mounted to one connectingportion, which is engaged by a coupling means, provided at the matingedge of the counter-connecting portion when the cooperating elements areproperly seated.

This invention relates to connectors, and in particular to connectorsfor completing electrical circuits.

In the general field of connectors, it is desirable to effect connectionbetween two parts as easily as possible; to insure against accidentalbreaking of the connection; and to permit easy intentional openingthereof. These characteristics are particularly important whenelectrical connectors or plugs are involved, because such connectors areoften subjected to recurrent use and must always provide reliableconnections.

In prior electrical connectors, the frictional contact of the connectingelements themselves was often relied upon. Where more rigid connectionswere desired, the housings of the male and female portions weresometimes screwed together; however, this expedient could only be usedfor round connectors. Furthermore, unless special coupling collars wereemployed, the wires of such screwed connectors became twisted. Stillanother prior attempt to provide rigid but easily severed connectionsinvolved the use of mating clips mounted on the outside of the male andfemale housings and adapted to be cooperatively secured.

Obviously, rectangular connectors cannot be secured by screwing themating elements together. On the other hand, externally mounted clipsare inconvenient to handle, unsightly in appearance, and subject theconnectors to snagging on adjacent units.

It is an object of this invention to provide a connector having matingparts and including securing means located in the interior thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved securedconnector that is easy and cheap to manufacture.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improvedconnector that can be easily assembled, locks into engagement, and canbe easily opened.

In accordance with the following illustrative embodiment of theinvention, an electric connection device is shown wherein complete andpositive connection can be accomplished by pushing a male plug into afemale receptacle. Disconnection is easily effected by merely pressing apush button and pulling the plug and the receptacle apart. A springmember is provided on the interior wall of the plug housing. This memberis adapted to automatically engage a cooperatively designed element inthe receptacle housing when the plug and receptacle are joined. Thespring member is normally tensioned against the interior surface of theplug, and a portion projects through to the outside. To disengage theconnector, the protruding portion is depressed and the plug andreceptacle are freed to be slipped apart.

The invention may be better understood from the fol- 3,408,614 PatentedOct. 29, 1968 ice lowing description given in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly insection of the plug unit of theconnector according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view in the direction of the arrows A-A' of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a front view of a plug cover to be mounted upon the plugunit;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a connection plate spring tobe coupled to the plug unit;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevation in the direction ofthe arrows B-B' of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view illustrating a receptacle unit of theconnector according to this invention; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the engagement of theplug unit of FIGURE 1 with the receptacle unit of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, the plug unit A, as bestshown in FIGURE 1, comprises such main elements as an inverted U-shapedside wall member 1, cover plates 2, a connection plate spring 3, and abody of insulating material 5 having a plurality of electric connectionpins 4. The top of side wall member 1 forms the back of plug A. TheU-shaped side wall member and two cover plates, when assembled, providesa generally openended plug housing. The cover plate 2, as best shown inFIGURE 3, is provided at the upper portion thereof with a recess portion25 having apertures 6 therein and also at the lower portion thereof witha rectangular aperture 8 through which a push button 7 is adapted toprotrude. The cantilevered connection or coupling plate spring is madeof resilient spring material, and as best shown in FIGURE 4, has at theupper vertical portion 10 thereof apertures 9 corresponding to theapertures 6 of the cover plate 2. It also has an outwardly inclinedportion 11 on which the push button 7 is rigidly secured in any suitablemanner. The lowermost portion of the plate spring 3 is bent to form apawl 12 with an inclined face 14 on the underside of the front end. Theconnection plate spring 3 is so secured to the cover plate 2 that thevertical portion 10 of the plate spring 3 is fixed rigidly on the recessportion 25 by rivets through opposing apertures 6 and 9. When mounted,the extreme end 13 of pawl 12 exerts pressure against the inner surface17 of the lower portion of the cover plate, said pressure being impartedby the resiliency of the outwardly inclined portion 11. When the plugunit A and the receptacle unit B are coupled to gether, note that thelower portion of the cover plates are in juxtaposition with the slotteddistal ends of the L- shaped coupling means 22 so as to reinforce andstrengthen the unity of the assembled connector against externallygenerated transverse forces tending to laterally displace the plug unitA and to shear its connector pins. The push button 7 protrudes throughthe rectangular aperture 8 of cover plate 2.

The female receptacle unit B illustrated in FIGURE 6 is adapted toreceive the plug unit A and comprises such main elements as a body ofinsulating material 19 having a plurality of electric connection piecescorresponding to the connecting pins 4 of the plug unit A, and areceptacle case 20. On the intermediate portions of the bothlongitudinal sides of the receptacle case 20 are provided L- shapedcoupling means 22 having rectangular apertures 21 adapted to receivepawls .12 of the plate spring 3 of the plug unit A.

When the plug unit A and the receptacle unit B are coupled together,pawls 12 are positively engaged with the apertures 21 and the extremeends 13 of the pawls 12 are pressed against the inner surface 17 of thecover plate thereby to provide a complete and positive connection. Byproviding a tilted (beveled) face 24 inside the extreme (distal) end ofthe coupling means 22, the tapered face 14 of the pawl 12 is slidablymovable on the tilted face 24, so that the connection can be smoothlyeffected by simply push-fitting the plug unit into the receptacle unit.During insertion, button 7 need not be depressed. Further, by providingoutwardly bent portion 23 at the lowermost end of the cover plate, theplugging-in operation can be further improved and facilitated.

When disconnecting the plug unit and the receptacle unit, the pawl 12 ofthe connection plate spring is released from the aperture 21 of thecoupling means, as shown in two-dot chain line in FIGURE 7, by pushingthe button 7 of the plug unit A in the direction of the arrow as alsoshown in FIGURE 7, and, then, the plug and receptacle units are pulledaway from each other.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention has been described. It willbe appreciated that many modifications of this embodiment are possible.For example, if the plug housings do not have fiat sides, the springmeans 3 may have an arcuate shape to conform with that of the housing.It is intended in the following claim to include all modifications ofthe described invention which fall within the spirit and teachingsthereof.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. A connector having a plurality of connecting pins and matingapertures comprising two cooperating portions, each having an open-endedhousing, one of said housings having oppositely disposed slots near theopen end of said housings and the other of said housings having mountedat the periphery of its open end oppositely disposed slotted L-shapedmembers, said L-shaped mem- BEST AVAlLABLE COPY bers having at leastoneslot in the-distal ends thereof;-a pair of cantileveredcouplingmeans, having push buttons projecting outwardly therefrom nearthe free ends thereof and having a beveled pawl at said free ends, beingfixedly secured to the inside walls of said housing having said slots insuch a mannerthatthefree ends of said cou; pling means are 'tensioned'outwardlyagainst the, inside of said housing and said push buttonsprotruding through said slots of said housing, the open ends of saidhousing having said slots extending beyond the beveled pawls of saidcoupling means whereby when said coupling means and said L-shapedmembers are positively engaged together in a locking manner-saidopenends-of'said housing being seated and disposed in juxtaposition with theslotted distal ends of said L-shaped members in order to reinforce andstrengthen the unity of the assembled connector against externallygenerated transverse forces tending to laterally displace said housinghaving said slots and to shear the connector pins of said connector.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,169,042 2/1965 Jepson 339-9l2,659,872 11/1953 Gilbert. 2,895,119 7/1959 Montgomery 3399l FOREIGNPATENTS 99,5 74 4/ 1925 Germany.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. JOSEPH H. MCGLYN N, AssistantExaminer.

